In McGahan's prequel to his bestselling debut, Praise, Gordon, failed writer and bottleshop boy, feels his life is going nowhere and heads north with Wayne in search of their rightful place in the culture of a nation.

'A lighthouse. A weather station, thousands of miles away. For six months. I drank steadily. With alcohol it all made sense.'
It's the Bicentennial year and for Gordon - failed writer and bottleshop boy - it seems his life is going nowhere. It's time to escape. From his overcrowded house, from Brisbane, from Expo 88, from everything. He stumbles into Wayne who has connections in Darwin and the promise of work. So the two of them head north toward swamps and crocodiles, in search of inspiration, and of their rightful place in the culture of Australia.

'Untamed and frankly shocking. When 1988 is dismissed as "another" young man's angsting book by reviewers deaf to the stylistic magic of this book, it makes the joke even funnier.'The Age

'The pre-eminent Australian road novel.'The Australian

'A fiendish and eventful psychological novel ... hugely satisfying.'The New York Times Book Review